A special guest joined the admiring parents, faculty and friends at the Mable House Barnes Ampitheater in Mableton to hear the Lassiter High School band's spring concert Friday night.

Sally Bixby, the president of the 2013 Tournament of Roses, was on hand to present the band's fourth invitation to the Rose Parade.

The parade will be held Jan. 1, 2013 in Pasadena, CA, and be witnessed by hundreds of millions of people in person or on television.

“You should be proud as a community," Bixby said, to be represented by the Marching Trojan Band in the 2013 Rose Parade.

Lassiter's three previous appearances came between 1988 and 2001, all under 30th-year band director Alfred Watkins.

Every year, roughly 80 marching bands apply to participate in the parade. The parade committee considers musicianship, marching ability, entertainment value and uniqueness to narrow the field to 13 participating bands.